The minutes of the previous meeting, held on
Monday 21 March 2016, were approved as a correct record.

3.

Matters arising

Minutes:

The Council’s Chief Legal Officer stated
that:

(i)
The Council’s Complaints’ Procedure had now been
published on its website;

(ii)
A further training session had been arranged for Councillors and
co-opted Members; and

(iii)
Dr Robert Cawley had recently been
appointed by the Council as an Independent Member on the Standards
Committee but was unable to attend this evening’s
meeting.

4.

Matters Raised by Members - Validity of Committee Membership

Minutes:

Councillor Warren wished it to
be recorded that he objected to the Chairman presiding at the
meeting as he believed that the Chairman’s relationship with
the Member at whom the complaint had been directed, could bring
into question his impartiality in considering the matter before the
Committee.

On 13 May 2016, the Council’s Monitoring
Officer received a Members’ Code of Conduct complaint about
Councillor Muhammed Butt. As the subject matter of the complaint
has been reported in the press and on the internet, the details of
the complaint are already in the public domain. The allegations
have been independently investigated by Mr Richard Penn and his
investigation report is attached for the Committee’s
consideration. Mr Penn’s report concludes that there is no
evidence to support the complaint and that Councillor Butt did not
breach the Members’ Code of Conduct.

*Please note that a paragraph
was removed within section 3.8 of the attached report on 30
September 2016 following confirmation from Cllr Pavey on 28
September 2016 that it was incorrect.

The Council’s Chief Legal Officer
introduced the item, provided the background to the complaint,
summarised the findings of the external independent investigation
carried out and the resultant recommendation to Committee.

The Council’s Senior Solicitor outlined
the key stages of the complaints procedure.

It was reported that a Members’ Code of
Conduct (the Code) complaint against the Leader of the Council,
Councillor Butt, had been received and which had been the subject
of an external and independent investigation.

The complaint, from Mr Philip Grant, a
resident of the borough of Brent, had been received by the Council
on 13 May 2016, in which, it had been alleged that Councillor Butt
had misled the Council over the death of a former Member,
Councillor Tayo Oladapo. The complaint
had arisen from an email, sent by a Labour Party worker, the
subject of which had been leaked to the media that day and which
formed the basis of Mr Grant’s complaint that Councillor Butt
had breached the general principles of honesty, integrity, openness
and leadership, as detailed in the Code.

The Committee was advised that the allegations
had been independently investigated by Mr Richard Penn and that his
investigation report, which concluded that there was no evidence to
support the complaint and that Councillor Butt had not breached the
Code, had been circulated to Members.

It was noted that, in accordance with the
Code’s Complaints Procedure, the Council’s Monitoring
Officer had carried out an initial assessment of the complaint and,
subsequently, referred the matter for investigation. It was further noted that as well as having
conducted an investigation into the Code’s complaint
concerning Councillor Butt, Mr Penn had also been instructed to
separately review and investigate the events, which had lead up to
the reporting of former Councillor Oladapo’s continued
absence from meetings, and other related matters, at Full Council
on 22 February 2016.

Given the above, the Council’s Chief
Legal Officer stated that the Committee’s role was to
consider Mr Penn’s investigation report, which focussed on Mr
Grant’s complaint concerning the conduct of Councillor
Butt.

A Member stated that the whole matter rested
on whether Councillor Butt had breached the Code and at which point
the alleged breach had occurred.

A Member questioned what constituted a breach
of openness under the Code.

A Member acknowledged the independent
investigation and said that a comprehensive review of the complaint
had been carried out.

The Council’s Chief Legal Officer then
referred Members to Mr Penn’s main conclusions, which were
set out at paragraph 3.5 to the committee report and which stated
that:

(a)
Councillor Butt had acted in his capacity as Leader of the Council
in respect of the matters, which were the subject of the complaint
and therefore he was required to comply with the Code;

(b)
There was no evidence that Councillor Butt knew of former
Councillor Oladapo’s death before he had been told on 7 March
2016;

(c)
There was no evidence that Councillor Butt had been trying to avoid
a by-election;